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Senator Barickman released the following statement following adjournment of the regular legislative session

6/1/2016

“This spring we had the chance to change the course of Illinois, to improve funding for all Illinois schools, and at the very least, to pass a balanced budget. But in the end we are worse off in June than we were in January,” said State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington). “Democrats refused to call Senate Bill 3434, which would have ended proration by fully funding schools and made sure that no school lost money. Instead they rammed through a bill that will never become law, a bill that would attempt to spend $900 million that the state simply doesn’t have. We have no budget, and any progress we were making seems to be disappearing as Democrats have pulled back their efforts to negotiate. This is shameful. The continued political games by Democrats represent an absolute dereliction of duty. They have left schools, students, state employees, and our most vulnerable citizens with little hope of any real help.”